Local ordinance gives farmers better working hours, helps preserve farmland
By: Molly Petrilla
MANSFIELD A Right to Farm ordinance passed by the Township Committee on July 26 will help local farmers continue planting, reaping and sowing with minimal disturbance from their nonfarming neighbors.
The ordinance "allows an already established farmer some latitude if there are new developments or housing" built near his farm, Township Administrator Joe Broski said Monday.
Under the new guidelines, farmers on Mansfield’s 225 "farmland pieces" will be able to work later at night or earlier in the morning than other local businesses, and will receive some leeway when it comes to noises, animal odors and crop spraying if new houses are constructed nearby.
The ordinance is in line with the state’s Right to Farm efforts, and first came up at a township meeting several years ago, Mr. Broski said.
"This just gives it a little more strength," he added. "As you have more developments in town, you may be more susceptible to complaints, and this will help protect the farmers in Mansfield and try to keep the community green."
The ordinance comes at the right time, he said, since the township just broke ground on two new developments last week one on Hedding Road and one off Main Street both of which are near active farms.
"Our Township Committee feels very strongly about keeping the farms active in Mansfield," he said. "It’s part of our history, it’s part of our composition it’s what made us what we are today."
At the July 26 meeting, Mansfield resident Bob Tallon, who a member of the Crafts Creek Spring Hill Brook Watershed Association, offered the only public comment on the ordinance, praising its efforts.
In Mansfield, "we’re losing some (farmland), but we’ve managed to preserve some, so that will maintain some of the farm culture in our community, which is important," he said Tuseday.
Mr. Tallon pointed to the importance of farms as places for rainwater to recharge, for cleaning up excess carbon in the atmosphere and as a source of food.
"I’m a combination of a person who likes farming and who likes the environment," he added. "And once we lose farm ground, it’s pretty much lost for good."